Alex is British and was an up and coming star in music. He had a top song called Too Close which launched his popularity. But he gave up his promising career to become an Orthodox Jew and only recently has started releasing music again. He now lives in Israel
Alex began his career when he was not religious. He was a rising star in the non-jewish world, signed to a big record label, and his biggest hit “Too Close” was used in a MICROSOFT commercial in 2012. After becoming more religious he was offered to go on tour with ADELE but turned it down because it was over Passover and he would need to miss too many nights… his label dropped him after that and he moved to Israel where he now lives as an Orthodox Jew.
Alex Clare's life story - Alex is a Jewish singer who at the beginning of his life was secular and began to repent and became religious. He was not ready to work on Shabbat, which is a holy day for Jews, and therefore lost a huge contract with a record company. Today he lives the life of a religious Jew . He mada aliya to israel and he live in jerusalem
Your analysis of the visual and explaining that dynamic in a relationship was so spot on! There’s nothing worse than that dynamic and whichever partner is strong enough to step up and start the conversation to put out those flames and tension is 💪🏻💪🏻
He's big in the non Jewish world. He became religious later in life. Here's him talking about his life story ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Obdjs4UTKRQ.html
Alex is himself an Orthodox Jew (became religious later on in life) but his music isn't necessarily geared for the Jewish community. Great voice and composer nonetheless!
I'm an orthodox Jew and was raised in an orthodox home (in fact, I'm hassadic), but I stopped listening to Jewish music a few years back for personal reasons. Your reacthon to this song introduced me to Alex and now I actually feel like I can start listening to Jewish music because I like this artist
Long comment here! I think it's about time someone explained the different categories of Jewish communities. You've mostly been reacting to Orthodox singers. Orthodox Jews believe in following traditional Jewish law. The main three streams of Orthodox Judaism are Modern, Chassidish, and Yeshivish. Modern Orthodox Jews -Believe in following traditional Jewish law but also being a part of general society -Men wear kippas but otherwise do not have a distinctive dress -Examples: Gad Elbaz, Hanan Ben Ari, some of the boys in Miami Boys Choir, Ben Shapiro, Ivanka Trump -They usually listen to regular radio music, so there's not too much demand for Modern Orthodox Jewish singers in the US Chassidish and Yeshivah Jews are both considered "ultra-Orthodox" or Haredi (as opposed to modern). Both groups believe in separating themselves to various extents from the rest of society. Most Chassidish and many Yeshivish Jews only listen to Orthodox music sung by men or boys. Women dress very modestly and do not sing in front of unrelated men. Chassidish Jews (also spelled Hasidic) are split into different sects based on where they come from in Europe. Most sects: -Are the most separatist and traditional Jews -Believe in mysticism -Can speak Yiddish -Men often have long side curls and wear streimels -Examples: Motty Steinmetz, Shira Choir, Lipa, Mordechai Ben David There is a Chassidish sect called Chabad that is different than the others and is very focused on joyful outreach and missionary work for secular Jews. Because of this, they are more worldly. Examples: Avraham Fried, Benny Friedman, 8th Day (the "Jewish mafia" family of singers lol) Yeshivish Jews (also called Litvish): -Believe in Torah study and strict legal interpretation of Jewish law -Men often wear black hats -They often live alongside and mix with either of the other Orthodox sects -Examples: Yaakov Shwekey, Yerachmiel Begun, Ishay Ribo In the US, Orthodox Jews are a minority and most Jews are secular, Reform, or Conservative. In Israel, there are not many Reform or Conservative Jews, and the main categories are secular, traditional, Haredi, and Modern Orthodox (who are called religious Zionists or "daati leumi" in Israel). Jews are also described as Ashkenazim or Sephardim based on their country of origin, which is mostly a cultural rather than religious distinction. I personally grew up and live in a Yeshivish community but I'm secular and not religious. Note that not everyone fits easily into one of these boxes. For example: Alex Clare! He grew up secular but is a "baal teshuva," meaning he became Orthodox later in life. I believe he lives now in a mixed community of yeshivish and modern Orthodox. Ariel Zilber is also a baal teshuva and now part of the Chabad community. You can tell that both singers have been influenced by contemporary secular music. Hope this comment is helpful and doesn't dispel too much of the mystery!
Once again you knocked it out of the park! Thanks so much for the information download. There are so many "small" yet large differences that you've described. A lot of people have mentioned they want me to listen to more "Israeli singers" or "hasidic singers", but in all honesty I'm just here for the experience of it all. There are so many variations of singers/song styles I've come across already, and for sure there are gonna be some "misses" like Ariel for me, but it's still awesome to be exposed to these things.
@@PortuguesePai Exactly! In a way it might even be better to not know the "categories" so that you can just appreciate each singer for who they are - everyone is unique. When I stopped observing the religion, I also stopped listening to the Orthodox music, but I recently started to listen again and appreciate it more for what it is (and for the nostalgia). Your channel is also introducing me to some of the newer music. Thanks again!
Alex Claire wrote and sang a song that became a Pop hit because it was used in a commercial for Microsoft. He's was an R&B singer in England before becoming an Observant Jew. He became an Observant Jew before his hit became big. He almost lost the record contract because he didn't want to perform on Shabbat. However, Hashem made a miracle through Microsoft which made him successful.
